R3 LEG 1 - The Kid strikes again
8/4/2000 20:44 (Press Release) - More than 57,000 fans saw Craig Lowndes perform his magic again in the first leg of the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. He took the chequered flag after an enthralling and eventful 78 laps where the pace car was required for three of the bigger smashes of the day, including a huge flip by Brad Jones.
"We had a few problems early and we lost some time on the first pit stop but the safety car periods allowed us to make up some ground and the car stayed strong to let me drive hard at the end," said Lowndes.
Lowndes win reminded the crowd of his heroic performance here in 1999 which catapulted him towards his third Shell Series crown. It seems he is on path for a fourth, having won five of the six races run so far in the 2000 season, missing out only in the second race at Phillip Island when he suffered a rare engine failure.
The Holden Racing Team champion was the sixth and final driver to hold the lead when he slipped past Glenn Seton's Tickford Ford on lap 73 and held it to the line.
Polesitter, Garth Tander was the next home, providing an exact copy of the first three from the first leg of last year's Adelaide round.
"We were really running over the limit at the end there with tyre wear and I was just trying to make the most of opportunities we had," said Lowndes. "We learnt a lot about the car and how the rest of the field run here today and I am pleased to be starting from the front tomorrow."
Seton's return to form after a disappointing Shell Series round at Barbagallo a fortnight ago was as welcome to the Ford fans as it was to him.
"I was doing my best out there today, but this fella (Lowndes) is bloody hard to beat out there at the moment," Seton said. "Obviously I have been under a fair bit of pressure to perform this year and after the disaster in WA, I am really happy with today's result."
"The car was strong and if my rear tyres hadn't got a bit greasy at the end then I am sure I could have held Craig at bay to take the win. As it is, we are in pretty good shape and I know there are areas we can improve before tomorrow."
Garth Tander had started from pole and appeared to have the race in hand. The Valvoline Cummins Holden youngster had controlled the race pace, opening up a healthy lead before pitstop trouble saw him lose vital ground.
"We had our strategy altered a bit by the safety car interruptions and then we had a problem getting the rear tyres off when we did get into the pits," said Tander.
"This is definitely one that got away. You just can't afford to dump 30 seconds in the pits to the likes of Craig and Glenn and expect to get the win. But the car still ran great and the tyres seemed to hold up really well so I will start tomorrow pretty confident."
Steven Richards was fourth in the Kmart Holden, ahead of the Shell Helix Falcon of Paul Radisich. Radisich's teammate, Steven Johnson finished sixth, holding Jason Bargwanna off by a whisker at the finishing line.
Eleven of the 40 starters failed to finish the race as the tight and unforgiving Adelaide street circuit took its toll on the V8 Supercar field.
Larry Perkin's day was effectively over on lap four when he clipped a tyre barrier on a high speed corner and crushed his Castrol Holden into the concrete.
Neil Crompton's nightmare day started on lap 26 when rear wheel problems left the second Tickford car with a lengthy stay in the garage.
The safety car was called upon for the first time on lap 31 when Paul Romano's Holden slammed into the wall on pit straight. This also marked the end of luckless Mark Skaife's day when he pulled into the Holden Racing Team garage with a dropped valve.
Almost as soon as the racing re-commenced, the safety car was out again with the then second-placed Russell Ingall crashing out in identical fashion to his team boss Perkins.
The biggest and most spectacular crash of the day came from the Ozemail Racing Ford of Brad Jones, who came to grief on the same corner as Ingall and Perkins, only more dramatically.
Jones careered into the barrier at more than 140km, flipping the car on its roof and into the middle of the track. Fortunately Jones escaped uninjured but his weekend's racing is over.
Tander retains his Shell Series lead, over Lowndes, Radisich, Skaife and Johnson. With 160 points up for grabs in tomorrow's second leg of the Clipsal 500, the racing should be just as exciting.
**TOP 10**
1st CRAIG LOWNDES (Mobil-Holden Racing) - VT Commodore [80]
2nd GLENN SETON (Ford-Tickford Racing) AU Falcon [72]
3rd GARTH TANDER (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore [68]
4th STEVEN RICHARDS (Kmart Racing) VT Commodore [64]
5th PAUL RADISICH (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [60]
6th STEVEN JOHNSON (Shell Helix Racing) - AU Falcon [56]
7th JASON BARGWANNA (Team Valvoline-Cummins) - VT Commodore [52]
8th GREG MURPHY (K-Mart Racing) - VT Commodore [48]
9th TONY LONGHURST (Caltex Havoline Racing) - AU Falcon [44]
10th JOHN FAULKNER (Asia Online Racing) - VT Commodore [40]
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